A Toronto lawyer is suing police for unlawfully arresting him during the G20 summit, a claim substantiated by Ontario’s police complaints watchdog.

Nicholas Wright, 29, says he was riding his bicycle along Bloor St. on June 27, 2010, the summit’s final day, when he was stopped by police and handcuffed, searched and detained for about 20 minutes.

By:Jennifer YangStaff Reporter, Published on Wed Feb 15 2012

A Toronto lawyer is suing police for unlawfully arresting him during the G20 summit, a claim substantiated by Ontario’s police complaints watchdog.

Nicholas Wright, 29, was riding his bicycle along Bloor St. on June 27, 2010, the summit’s final day, when he was allegedly stopped by police and handcuffed, searched and detained for about 20 minutes.

Wright claims he was told he was being arrested for wearing a disguise — he had a bandana and goggles around his neck — and an officer later provided a fake name when Wright demanded he identify himself.

“It was very upsetting,” Wright said. “The experience has made me more concerned and fearful about my liberty and civil liberties in general, and it’s made me view police in a different light.”

Wright alleges police violated his Charter rights, conducted a false arrest, and carried out a negligent investigation. He is seeking $25,000 in damages and will be filing his lawsuit Thursday.

A statement of defence has not yet been filed. Attempts to reach Toronto police for comment on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Wright’s allegations have been partially substantiated by the province’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director, an arm’s-length agency that probes police misconduct. Two officers now face a police hearing.

Wright filed a complaint shortly after his arrest and the OIPRD concluded its investigation Sept. 13, 2011. In its report, the agency substantiated Wright’s claims of being arbitrarily detained, searched and unlawfully arrested.

“There were no reasonable grounds articulated by the officers that supported a belief that the complainant breached the peace or was likely to breach the peace,” the report said.

The two police officers involved denied to the OIPRD that they told Wright he was under arrest. Const. Jason Crawford said Wright was associated with a critical mass bike protest and displayed concerning behaviour, including refusing to answer questions. (Wright asserts he was exercising his right to remain silent.)

“Is he, you know, a violent offender? Maybe. Is he not? I don’t know at that point, right?” Crawford is quoted as saying in the report. “So, given those circumstances . . . it was the easiest solution, best solution, to protect him, protect the traffic, get everything flowing and make sure we’re not standing there in front of cars because I’ve seen what horrible drivers can do.”

The OIPRD said there was not enough evidence to substantiate Wright’s claim that an officer lied about his name.

Wright alleges the officer who first stopped him had no name tag and identified himself as “Steve Christopher.” According to Wright’s statement of claim, the OIPRD was later able to identify that officer as Const. Ryan Simpson after tracing a computer search he conducted on Wright in a police database.